How Do I Deal
by youwinmylove
Summary: Completely AU. Kate and Rick are married for a few years now and have two kids. What happens when their daughter gets kidnapped one night? And how will they manage to go on with their lives after being accused of being the ones who did it? May be Rated M later for the mention of child abuse (Johanna didn't die, so Kate's not a cop. Rick's marriage with Gina never happened.)
1. Chapter 1

It was a warm summer's day when 6 year old Kelly was playing outside on the sidewalk with her friends from the neighborhood. The kids were jumping around, laughing about what they were doing, not thinking that anything bad could ever happen to one of them.

Nobody noticed the car that slowly past the street with a man sitting behind the wheel, looking intensively at the group of children and fixing his eyes on Kelly after a second. Her long brown hair was flying up and down while she was running after a boy, her proud smile reaching her eyes after she was able to catch him. The man licked his upper lip as he put a cigarette in his mouth and light it up, not letting Kelly out of his sight.

When a car drove into the the street, parking in front of the house on the opposite of where the kids were playing, the brunette girl looked up and instantly ran across the street, right before the man accelerated his car and drove away but not without a last glance at Kelly.

"Daaaaaadyyyy!", the little girl sang while she ran up the driveway the car had just parked in. As soon as the door on the drivers site was opened she jumped into Rick's arms, surrounding his neck with hers. Her father managed to get out of the car somehow and hugged his daughter tight when he was finally standing straight.

"Hey sweetheart.", he said, kissing her at the top of her head.

"Had a good time at your friend's?" Kelly nodded and snuggled closer into her dad's embrace.

When Rick looked down he saw his 3 year old son running up to him with his tiny legs and could tell he had been trying to keep up with his big sister. He adored Kelly and not one day went by without him copying her, even if it was just the way she drank her milk in the morning or brushed the teeth before going to bed. Now the boy was slowing down, looking at his father so expectantly, Rick had to laugh a little.

"Come here, Paul.", he smirked, making his son smile and jumping into the other side of his arms.

Acting as if he was gonna break beneath them right there, he groaned: "Ugh, you kids are getting too heavy for this!" which made both of his children laugh while he let them down again.

"Oh look, there's mommy.", Kelly shouted when she saw her mother's car driving towards them.

"Oh, mommy!", Paul joined her and jump up and down, clapping his little hands together and ran down the driveway with his big sister.

Kate parked her car next to her husband's and hugged both of her kids, first Kelly and then Paul because again, he couldn't keep up with her, and kissed them on their cheeks.

"Can we play outside for a bit longer?", Kelly started to beg after Kate had let her brother down.

"Yeah sure but be home on time for dinner, okay?", she said as her daughter nodded and watched her children run off before she turned to Rick.

"Hey there", he whispered against her lips after he kissed her hello and put his left arm around her shoulder.

As they were walking up to their house, he asked his wife: "I thought you had the day off?"

"I did but Lanie called and asked if I wanted to meet for a coffee and your mother suggested to watch Kelly and Paul. What are you doing home so early by the way? I though your meeting wouldn't be over till later tonight?"

"Well, I told Gina I wanted to spend the evening with my beautiful family after being on the book tour for the last three weeks and she was surprisingly understanding."

"I'm glad she was.", Kate smiled and kissed her husband passionately before continuing their way to the front door.

"Mom?", Rick shouted into the house after closing the door behind him.

"In the kitchen", Martha answered back and the couple followed her voice.

"Hello you two.", she greeted them while spilling tea into her cup.

"Hey, thanks again for watching the kids.", Kate said, smiling at her mother-in-law.

"They didn't take much watching and were outside with their friends most of the day but any time, Katherine.", Martha smiled back and nodded at the teapot.

"Want some?"

"Yeah, thank you.", Kate answered, accepting Martha's cup while she filled herself a new one.

"You too, Richard?", his mother asked but he denied and hugged his wife from behind, placing a kiss on her shoulder. Martha watched them for a second, smiling to herself. She was so happy her son had found someone like Kate and has left his playboy image behind. Before he had met her he couldn't even keep a relationship going for more than a month, aside from Meredith of course but he had only married her because he had thought he was in love with her because of Alexis. Privily, Martha was glad that marriage hadn't last, Rick hadn't been half as happy as he was with Kate back then. Having him moving out of the city was another big decision Martha had never thought her son would make. But with Alexis being away at college, he had chosen that Kelly and Paul should grow up with a garden and without as much traffic, so you wouldn't have to worry to let them out of sight all the time. Her son had grown to be such a good father, Martha couldn't be any prouder of him right now.

"I made up an appointment for an apartment viewing for next week.", she said, even though she didn't want to interrupt the couple.

Rick looked up at his mother.

"You didn't have to, really. We like to have you around."

"You're welcome here any time.", Kate agreed and confirmed her husband's statement.

After the married couple moved out here about two years ago Martha stayed in the city, living at the loft until a few days ago. She didn't want to live off her son's money all her life but since her acting school wasn't going very well at the present time, she decided to rather sell the loft and move to a smaller flat, but not without her son's blessing, of course.

"Oh, thank you both! That's very sweet of you but I really need my own place, even though I love to have the kids around me 24 hours a day.", Martha smiled while thinking about her grandchildren.

"Anyway", she finished her cup of tea and took her bag from the table, "I'm gonna go out with a few old friends tonight. Don't wait up.", she told them.

"Have a good time.", Kate waved and Martha was about to leave when her son spoke up.

"Mother, please don't leave the door open when you come home later again, okay?"

"Have I ever done that?", Martha asked confused.

"Yes you have!", Rick answered seriously.

"Richard, that was one night when I may have been down a little but tonight I'm not going out to get drunk!", she said and turned without another word.

Rick sighed and Kate kissed his cheek softly.

"I'm sure, she's gonna be okay." Thankfully, Rick kissed her nose in return.

"I hope so."

* * *

><p><em>Author's note: Thank for reading the prolog of my new story and please review afterwards, to let me know if I should continue :)<em>


	2. Chapter 2

Later that night, when it was getting dark and everyone had gone inside, there was only one man left on the street. With the light on, you could see through some of the windows, see the silhouettes of the people behind them. But the man chose to only pay his attention to one window.

Kelly was in her room at that time, combing her hair and changing into her pajamas. She was very excited that her mum had already washed her favorite one, the pink one with the cute little red flowers on it.

After she had gone over to her bed and out of the part of the room you could see from the street, the man snorted annoyed and ones again lighted up a cigarette. With the little light he could at least see what time the watch on his right wrist showed.

7:46 pm.

It was going to be a long night for him.

Up in her bed room, Kelly had picked up her Teddy from the nightstand and had put her blanket over the two of them.

"I'm in beeeed.", the girl shouted to let her parents know that she was ready.

After Kate opened the door, she took a second to look at her daughter, smiling at how grown up her little baby already was. Then she picked up a copy of 'Matilda' and walked over to Kelly's bed.

"Here you go.", she said to the girl and set down, laying the book in front of her.

"Do you want to read yourself or should I do it?"

"Mum, I can read! I'm a big girl, you know?", Kelly insisted sternly, making her mother smile again and go through the girl's hair with one hand.

"Of course you are, baby." She passed her daughter the book, who took it thankfully and opened it immediately.

"But gimme a good night hug first, okay?" Kate spread her arms wide and Kelly crawled over to her right away, letting herself fall into her mother's hug. The two sat there for a moment, just enjoying each other's present, until Kate kissed the girl's forehead and slowly released the embrace.

"I love you, Kelly.", she said softly while covering her daughter up again.

"I love you too, mommy.", the girl murmured already caught up in her book.

In the meantime Rick had gone checking up on Paul, finding him asleep in the midst of his toy planes and spaceships. He chuckled and lifted his son carefully before placing him in his bed, kissing him good night.

When he turned around he saw his wife leaning at the doorway, smiling at the picture in front of her. Rick returned the smile and gave her a quick kiss before leaving the room to wish his daughter a good night.

"Hey sweetheart", he said while opening the door.

"No, daddy don't come in.", Kelly screamed as soon as he had put his head through the door, covering something with her blanket. To respect his daughter's privacy, Rick closed the door a little but not completely, so he could still talk to her.

"Daddy, how long till Christmas?", the girl wanted to know before her father could even ask her what was going on.

"Christmas, huh? About 4 and a half months. Why?"

"Uh.. never mind.", Kelly told him, pulling her blanket a little higher before looking at the door again.

"You can open the door now." Rick did as he was told and looked at his daughter from the doorway.

"Can I come in and give you a kiss?" But Kelly shook her head.

"Not tonight!"

"Okay, baby. I love you." Rick was about to close the door and leave Kelly alone, when she spoke up one last time.

"I love you too, Daddy. Very, very much."

Kate was already in bed when Rick came into their room. She looked up from her magazine while Rick crawled over to her and gave a kiss.

"You know what's up with Kelly?", he asked, putting his arms around Kate's waste.

"Why?"

"She wanted to know how long it is till Christmas and wouldn't let me come into her room." Kate shut the magazine and placed it on the shelf next to the bed.

"I don't know. But we can ask her tomorrow. I'm sure it's nothing."

"Mhh.. I agree..", Rick replied and dragged his wife down a little so he was able to lean over her.

"Tomorrow's good", he murmured before meeting her lips with his.

Kate moved her fingers of one hand through his hair, trying to bring them as close together as possible with the other hand. After Rick had laid himself on top of her, she began to undo his shirt buttons fast because she couldn't wait to feel his skin against hers, moaning softly when he started to kiss her from the neck down to her chest.

A few hours later when it was completely dark outside, they had all fallen asleep, so nobody noticed the figure creeping around the house. He went to the back side, trying a few windows, cursing quietly when all of them were locked. After about three more minutes he found a basement window which was also locked but since it was the one that was the most far away from the bedrooms on the other side of the house, he took a stone and began to hit against it. When it was finally broken he somehow managed to climb through the tiny space.

In the basement he tried a few doors before he found the one with the stairs that led into the living area of the house. He slowly went up there and locked around for a little, concerned to not make a single sound.

The man began to sneak through the hallway. When he came across a sightly open door he pushed it open a bit more, just to see Kate and Rick curled up together, breathing regularly, which told him that they where definitely asleep.

From outside the house he had counted the windows from the parents room to Kelly's, so he went two doors further and opened it as noiseless as possible. Seeing Kelly sleep peacefully in her bed brought a creepy smile to his face, which he couldn't have hidden from anybody.

He didn't even dare to breath when he lifted her together with he blanket from the mattress into his arms, couldn't risk her waking up before they were out of the house. Luckily Kelly didn't seem to have noticed anything and he continued his way back down the hallway.

When he had come into the upper part he had immediately looked for the front door, so he wouldn't have to get out through that tiny basement window again, which was highly impossible with the girl. Now the man somehow managed to open the door without moving the kid in his arms too much and left the house without caring about closing the door.

The next morning Kate and Rick were waken by their alarm clock at 7 am. Kate groaned and searched for the clock with her hand to silence it without opening her eyes, while Rick tightened his grip around her. But getting back to sleep was no possibility because Paul came into their room at that moment, being wide awake.

"Daddy, it's morning!", he jumped on Rick's side of the bed. Slowly Rick opened first one eye, then the other one and looked at his smiling son.

"Good morning, big boy.", he said and pulled the boy over him, laying him in between Kate and himself. Rick noticed that his wife was about to fall asleep again, so he showed Paul something with his hands and the boy understood promptly and began to tickle his mother.

"Oh my god! No!", Kate began to laugh.

"No, stop it! I'm awake, I'm awake!" Paul let go of her, starting to laugh himself. Kate hugged him tight and gave him a short kiss on the cheek.

"So, why don't you and Daddy go and make breakfast? I'll be there in a minute.", she said when she saw Rick getting out of bed.

On their way from the bedroom to the kitchen, Rick came across the open front door.

"Oh great!", he sighed annoyed.

"What's great?" Paul followed his father to the door.

"Your grandmother went out and left the door wide open., Rick answered him, picked up the newspaper from the porch and closed the door from the inside.

"Why is that great?", the little boy wanted to know.

"Well, it's not great at all, it's not even good."

The two of them went into the kitchen and Rick started to prepare his infamous pancakes, letting Paul help whenever he could. After a few minutes, Kate joined them, still not looking fully awake.

"Oh, look who's up.", her husband laughed and gave her a little kiss before getting serious.

"The door was wide open again but her car's gone."

"Oh, no." Kate sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Anyway, I'm gonna go and wake Kelly up.", she said and went out of the kitchen again.

When she opened the door to her daughter's room and didn't see her anywhere she went over to the bathroom, supposing that she had already waken up and was getting ready.

"Kelly?", Kate asked when she opened another door, frowning when Kelly wasn't in there either.

"Paul, have you seen Kelly this morning?", she asked her son after she had come to the kitchen again but he just shook his head.

"Maybe mother took her out for breakfast, did you check for a note?", Rick proposed, while Kate opened the door towards their garden and screamed for Kelly.

"There was no note.", she answered him after closing the door again and went over to the phone.

"I'll check the porch.", he then offered and left the kitchen.

When he came back, Kate had just gotten off the phone and now looked at Rick with a scared expression.

"She's not at Sara's.. Where else could she be?"

Getting restless, Kate went into Kelly's room again, staring at the bed for a moment. She got onto her knees, taking a look under the bed, getting up, opening the closet and looking around the room before Rick came to stand in the doorway.

"Her blanket is gone!", she murmured more to herself than to her husband.

"Where would she go with her blanket?" The couple shared an anxious look.

"I'll go and check the neighbors.", Rick told her and was about to leave the house when Paul viewed him with big eyes.

"Is Kelly gone?"

"I hope not, Paul.." Rick grabbed his son by his shoulder and led him outside with him.

Kate went after them and called Kelly's name and looked inside the garage while Rick went to ask their neighbors. When she couldn't find Kelly, Kate turned to see where her husband was and found him talking to another man but realised that he hadn't seen their daugther either, when he shook his head no.

At that moment, Martha's car came down the street and parked a few feet away from Kate. She ran to the car immediately, opened the drivers door and didn't even wait for Martha to get out.

"Did you take Kelly somewhere?"

"No, why? I'm just getting home,", her mother-in-law shouted after her when Kate began to run up the driveway and to the back side of the house, calling her daughter's name over and over again, after hearing the word 'no'.

When she saw the broken window after some time, she froze for a second, not knowing what do to right away.

"Rick.. RICK!", she screamed after a while, trying to steady her breath while tears where streaming down her face.

_Authors's note: Thank you for reading the second chapter and please leave a review! Thank you!_

_The way Kelly was kidnapped may seem a little unrealistic but since I based this fanfic on a movie and the movie being based on a real event, I can asure you that it can work that way._

_Hope you enjoy the story so far!_


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